STATEMENT AND TESTIMONY OF CARL GIBBONEY, ACTING DIRECTOR, RURAL REHABILITATION DIVISION, FARM SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, WASHINGTON, D. C. Mr. THOMAS. The next witness will be Mr. Gibboney. STATEMENT IN REPLY TO COMMITTEE QUESTIONNAIRE ELIGIBILITY FOR FARM SECURITY ADMINISTRATION LOANS AND GRANTS Two major types of loans are made by Farm Security Administration. Rehabilitation loans are made to low-income farm families to enable them to buy the necessary operating equipment and to carry out sound farm and home management plans. Tenant-purchase loans are made to a limited number of worthy farmers to enable them to buy good, family-type farms of their own. In neither case are Farm Security Administration loans made to families who can obtain credit from any other source. SELECTION OF FAMILIES Rehabilitation.-Farm families apply for rehabilitation loans at the Farm Security Administration county offices located in nearly every agricultural county in the United States (there are 2,299 county offices at the present time). Each applicant is carefully considered by county farm and home supervisors with the help of advisory committees composed of local farmers and townspeople. After the farmer's preliminary eligiblity has been determined, his farm is visited by the supervisor and an inventory taken of the resources that he has available for successful farming. To be eligible for a rehabilitation loan a farmer must be an owner, tenant, sharecropper, or farm laborer (1) living on a farm from which he derives the major portion of his livelihood; (2) temporarily living in a town or village because of inability to remain on a farm from which he previously derived the major portion of his income; or (3) if he is a recently married young man who is the son of a farm family and desires to engage in farming for a living. farmer already chosen for a tenant-purchase loan is automatically eligible for a rehabilitation loan. In addition to these general qualifications, the applicant must be A (1) Unable to get adequate farm financing from agencies other than the Farm Security Administration. (2) In need of supervised farm- and home-management services. (3) Willing to assume the obligations of self-help necessary to effect his rehabilitation. (4) Able to give evidence of the necessary industry, ability, and managerial capacity for good farming. Small direct grants are made to low-income farm families at the time of intense need or distress to enable them to meet emergency needs for subsistence, immediate medical care and hospitalization, sanitary facilities, and essential household equipment. Grants may be made to needy families with rehabilitation loans, to nonborrowers at the time of emergency such as flood and drought, and to residents of resettlement projects and migratory labor camps in times of emergency need. Tenant purchase.-The Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, which governs the making of tenant-purchase loans, provides that persons who receive such loans shall be selected by county committees of three farmers who review all applications; that these committees consider the character, ability, and experience of the applicants in making the selections; and that preference be given to married persons or those with dependent families, persons able to make a down payment, or persons who own livestock and equipment necessary to good farming operations. Tenant-purchase loans are made through local Farm Security Administration offices in certain designated counties. 60396-41-pt. 17- -22 RESIDENCE REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY Rehabilitation.-No residence requirements must be met by a farmer in order for him to become eligible for a rehabilitation loan except that he must be able to locate an adequate farm unit in the county on which he and his family can make a living with the proper guidance, supervision, and financing. It is not necessary that the farmer have any residence in the county prior to the obtaining of this farm for occupancy. There are no residence requirements for families receiving direct grants to meet emergency conditions. Tenant purchase.-No specific residence requirements for tenant-purchase applicants have been established either by law or by administrative policy. However, there is actually little opportunity for farmers residing outside of designated tenant-purchase counties to secure loans. In nearly every designated county there are many more qualified applicants than there are loans available, and most of the applicants are residents of the county. County committees naturally tend to select those applicants who have established their residence for a suficient length of time to enable the committee to determine their farming and managerial ability, and their reputation for paying debts and meeting obligations. Morcover, only a certain number of counties have been designated for tenantpurchase loans. Available funds are not adequate to anywhere near meet the demands for these loans in the selected counties. OTHER CONDITIONS AFFECTING NONRESIDENTS There are no other conditions that might preclude a nonresident farm family from participating in either program in any county. In the rehabilitation program local Farm Security Administration supervisors often help nonresident farmers to locate adequate farms in order that rehabilitation loans might be made. BASIS FOR ALLOCATION OF FUNDS TO STATES Rehabilitation.-Rehabilitation-loan funds are allocated to the States on the basis of need so far as it can be determined in measurable terms. This deter mination rests primarily upon estimates by the field offices of unmet farm family needs by areas and upon statistical data on the incidence of rural poverty in the United States. The allocation of grant funds is made so far as possible on the same basis. However, it is impossible to estimate accurately the need for grants that will be made in times of emergency. Tenant purchase.-The Bankhead-Jones Act provides for the distribution of funds among the States and Territories on the basis of farm population and prevalence of tenancy. Consequently, the States having the greatest need for tenant-purchase loans receive the largest amount of funds. Distribution is accomplished by the designation of certain counties where farm population and tenancy are heaviest. COMMENTS ON FARM SECURITY ADMINISTRATION AND NONRESIDENCE It is apparent that the rehabilitation-loan program can, so far as its procedure is concerned, adequately meet the needs of nonresident farmers if these farmers are able, with the help of Farm Security Administration to locate adequate farm land in the particular county in which application has been made. However, local supervisors estimate that at least 640,000 farm families are now eligible to receive rehabilitaton loans who have not received them because loan funds are inadequate. The tenant-purchase program in its present scope is clearly not designed to provide opportunities for farm ownership to displaced farmers or migratory farm workers. (The following letter was received subsequent to the hearing, and was made a part of the record in accordance with instructions of the chairman:) Mr. LEONARD A. THOMAS, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Counsel, House Committee Investigating National Defense Migration, Old House Office Building, Washington, D. C. DEAR MR. THOMAS: Prior to my attendance at the round-table conference yesterday you had requested from Mr. Hammer of this Division a summary of administrative decisions concerning residence requirements in the determination of eligibility for Farm Security Administration grants. I understand that Mr. Hammer advised you by telephone that the only instances in which residence figures as a part of eligibility requirements are to be found in the making of grants to migrant farm families in certain areas where this transient population is heaviest. I take it from your request that you were interested in determining instances in which nonresidence precludes the getting of aid from the Federal Government. In the administration of Farm Security Administration grants to migrants, however, the nature of residence requirements is quite different. Actually nonresidence is essential before a family can receive a Farm Security Administration grant. If a farm family has local or State residence, and consequently becomes eligible for local or State aid, the Farm Security Administration cannot make available its grant facilities. The administrative determination of this point has been made in the form of instructions, which have been issued from our regional offices regarding the making of grants to migrant families. The instructions issued from our San Francisco office covering the making of these grants in California and Arizona illustrate the nature of such determination. In these instructions it is specifically pointed out that the migratory-labor-grant program was established to give assistance only to needy nonresident agricultural workers in meeting their subsistence requirements. The instructions go on to say that "the person who is otherwise eligible may be accepted in California if he does not qualify for State-relief-administration aid because of residence restrictions." As you probably know, State-relief-administration aid is not available to families or individuals in California who have not resided continuously in the State for a period of at least 3 years with intent to make it their home, or have lost their residence by remaining away from the State for an uninterrupted period of 1 year. Similarly for Arizona these instructions state that a person who has not resided in the State for 3 years immediately preceding the date of application for Farm Security Administration aid may be accepted, if otherwise eligible, for aid from the Farm Security Administration grant program. Such a person may also be eligible if he has lost his residence by remaining out of the State for a period of 1 year. Families in California may also become eligible for local aid made available through the county welfare department, in which case grants cannot be made by the Farm Security Administration. In these instances, however, residence requirements are still called for and Farm Security Administration has had to make numerous grants to people who were otherwise eligible for local help but could not prove sufficient residence. Nonemployables, for instance, must have resided in the State continuously for at least 3 years independent of any aid or public relief, and have lived in the county for 1 year prior to the making of application before aid is forthcoming from the county welfare department. In other regions in which the migrant-labor problem is serious, and in which the Farm Security Administration grant program for migrants is in operation, similar criteria with regard to State and local residence have been developed, although not in every case have these criteria become a part of administrative instruction. As you can see, it has been Farm Security Administration's purpose to help overcome residence requirements as a barrier to obtain public assistance in the States where the problem of migrant labor is a serious one. I trust that this information will be helpful to you. If we can be of further service, please let us know. Sincerely yours, CARL N. GIBBONEY, Acting Director, Rural Rehabilitation Division. TESTIMONY OF CARL GIBBONEY Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Gibboney, from an examination of your program it would appear that it is not necessarily geared to the helping of nonresident farmers, is that not so? Mr. GIBBONEY. I do not believe there is anything in our law or our regulations to provide especially for such cases, but it works out that way. We can supply everything but the farm in most cases. If nonresident farm families are able to find farms or some place where they can set up a farm or farming operations, then they are just as eligible as any other group; in fact, I believe I mentioned that in our statement. They are just as eligible to our supervision or assistance as any family in the county. PROGRAM TO CURTAIL MIGRATION Mr. THOMAS. Your program is really designed to help prevent migration, rather than to help a migrant after he moves into a community? Mr. GIBBONEY. That is right. Of course, we do some of the other, but we try our best to make more farms, which is a matter of securing a farm by lease or in some other way, by taking a large farm and dividing it into a number of small farms on a 10-year arrangement which is made privately with the individual. In some such cases we actually buy large farms, and the families divide them into small farms. Of course, that is something we did not include in our program for migratory labor, but it should have been included in our statement. Mr. THOMAS. I think we can assume that you covered your migratory camp program in previous hearings rather completely. However. I think Dr. Lamb raised a question this morning that he might like to put to you. Dr. LAMB. In the general discussion which is likely to arise later concerning the relationship between the certification procedures of the Farm Security Administration, the W. P. A., the Surplus Marketing Administration, and possibly the Social Security categories, I think it will appear that in certain States, notably California, there has been a tendency to pass the buck which is increasing with the tightening up of the available funds for all programs, including State relief administration programs. I would like to raise the question of what happens to a man under those circumstances and the certification procedures by which it is attempted to eliminate the man from any one program with the idea that it will reduce the number of cases under their regulation. In other words. the operation of the certification procedure is to reduce the number of clients under any one program, rather than to attempt, as Mr. Maguire suggested, to get a good case-work procedure which would determine where that client would be able to get the assistance to which the needy family is entitled. USE OF FUNDS FOR EMERGENCY NEEDS Mr. GIBBONEY. I would like to make one point that I do not believe is set forth in our statement: The Farm Security Administration feels that it is responsible for the relief of those who are applying for or subject to rehabilitation. That relief is somewhat limited, as you can imagine, but we have attempted, however, to use our grant funds in instances where, for some reason or other, other forms of relief do not operate for rural and agricultural families. It may be there is some hitch in certification, nonresidence, or other such contingencies, and our supervisors are empowered to make grants in those cases. We go at this sort of thing rather gingerly because it is an attitude of just this kind on our part which could easily be taken advantage of. In any event, our supervisors are instructed to prevent actual human suffering among all families in their districts, if that is possible. Dr. LAMB. I thought I would bring up the question and get the minds of the group here this morning to work on it before we get to the general discussion. I think this is one of the terrains on which more discussion would be profitable. STATEMENT BY J. J. McENTEE, DIRECTOR; TESTIMONY OF GUY D. MCKINNEY, ASSISTANT TO THE DIRECTOR; NEAL E. GUY, STAFF REPRESENTATIVE, CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS, FEDERAL SECURITY AGENCY; AND C. W. BAILEY, SENIOR ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER, VETERANS' ADMINISTRATION, WASHINGTON, D. C. Mr. THOMAS. The next witnesses will be Mr. McKinney, Mr. Guy, and Mr. Bailey. STATEMENT IN REPLY TO COMMITTEE QUESTIONNAIRE 1. Does your organic act provide any residence requirement? The basic Civilian Conservation Corps law (act of June 28, 1937, Public, No. 163, 75th Cong.) does not provide any residence requirement. Instead, section 8 of the act merely requires that enrollees shall be citizens of the United States. 2. The manner in which selections are made for membership in the Corps. The terms of the Civilian Conservation Corps Act provide for the cooperation of the States in furnishing facilities for the important work of selecting junior applicants (age 17 to 23) for the Corps. The authorization for this is contained in section 13 of the law as follows: "The Director, and, under his supervision, the cooperating departments and agencies of the Federal Government are authorized to enter into such cooperative agreements with States and civil divisions as may be necessary for the purpose of utilizing the facilities and services thereof." Since the beginning of the Civilian Conservation Corps (and its predecessor, Emergency Conservation Work), appointment to serve as State Selecting Agency has been customarily to the established State Welfare Department. Prior to such appointment, each State agrees to provide adequate Statewide facilities for the selection of eligible and desirable enrollees for the Civilian Conservation Corps, in order that the State may participate fully in the benefits of the Corps; and accepts the prescribed uniform minimum standards which are essential in order to assure uniform observance of our regulations and a uniform appreciation and regard for quality of selection. 3. Are any quotas allotted to the States? If so, how are the same determined? At the present time, formal State quotas are not allocated to the States. State Selecting Agencies are authorized to select for enrollment all applicants of good character and stability of purpose who meet the legal and administrative eligibility requirements. (During the past, when a constant surplus of eligible applicants had made it necessary to assign basic State quotas, these quotas were established on |